Part of my goody bag from my Behind the Scenes: House Foods America Corporation - Garden Grove visit was a package of House Foods Chinese Mabo Tofu Sauce. Just add meat and tofu, it says.
How does it compare to making homemade Ma Po Doufu (Chinese Pockmarked Old Lady's Tofu)? Not bad. Not bad at all.
The homemade version doesn't take long to prepare, however, if you don't keep Chinese black bean and fermented soybean sauces in your pantry, this was actually quite a good alternative. The ingredients list fermented soybean paste, so you're getting similar flavors. No Sichuan peppercorns though, so you'll miss the numbing sensation, or maybe that's a good thing? There is black and red pepper as the replacement. And tomato paste, which was unusual for me, but the flavor didn't really come through so it was fine.
And being a bad blogger, I didn't take a close-up of the box, but you can see it's the bright red box from my goody bag.
I sauteed half a pound of beef in the skillet with some basil leaves I had on hand.
Added the House Foods Mabo Tofu Sauce.
Then added a 1-lb package of soft tofu, diced.
Tossed in some dried chili peppers for color. And dinner was ready in minutes.
Served with rice.
The medium hot was not hot for me, but your mileage may vary.
I usually see these at the Asian grocery store for $2.something, but Amazon also sells the House Foods Mabo Tofu Sauce in packages of 10 for just a little bit more.
*****
1 year ago today, my sad little tomato harvest.
2 year ago today, a garden tour and outdoor party.
3 years ago today, whipped cream, clotted cream, Butter with a handheld mixer.
Well, that's good to know! I haven't had mapo tofu in ages and I'm not fond of the super spicy so maybe I'll give this a shot.
ReplyDeleteNikki,
ReplyDeleteHalf the time I leave out the Sichuan peppercorns anyway. This sauce was actually quite tasty. I like House Foods' Vermont curry with the touch of honey and apples too.